With the establishment a funding agreement with WorkSafeBC, we are now able to begin the process of ramping up our business plan and develop quality safety programs and services to the trucking industry in BC.  I am very excited about the opportunity we now have as a Council to make a real difference in improving the health safety of everyone working in the industry.

I also recognize that the Council faces many challanges on its way to achieving its objectives.  While the industry has a very good safety record; as a whole, more needs to be done to promote safe work practices and encourage a strong culture of safety.  One of the first challenges will be to engage the industry on the subject of safety and support employers and workers to give safety the attention at least equal to that given to the other parts of their businesses and their jobs.

To accomplish this, we have plans to develop and deliver various educational programs and information pieces that will help explain how good safety practices not only reduce the number of workplace injuries, but how improved safety performance results in other benefits such as lower costs of doing busines, improved productivity and a healthier work environment.  To help the industry obtain these benefits, we will provide various training courses and special programs that will enable employers, supervisors and employees obtain and apply best practices and implement procedures necessary for good safety outcomes.

Among these initiatives is the Certificate of Recognition or COR program which is currently being developed.  Not only does COR provide the incentive of up to a 15% rebate on your WorkSafeBC premium, but it can also be the starting point for implementing other safety initiatives that will have a positive impact on your business and on your employees.

To help us do our job, we need the help of the general trucking and moving and storage industy.  I want your feedback and comment on how and what we are doing.  I invite you to contact me if you have an issue, suggestion or proposal thay you believe the Council should consider.   We also need expertise and volunteers.  We are looking for people to serve on various committees, our Board of Directors and task forces.  If you have knowledge and an interest in occupational health and safety and are available to serve the Council, please let me know.

Over the next few months we will be adding staff and increasing our scope of operations, so please visit our website regularly to keep up to date on what we are doing and to get the information you need to be a safe employer and a safe worker

Rob Weston
Executive Director